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My first experience with a Hyundai was when I was a teenager, and my father owned a 1984 white 4door Hyundai Excel. This thing was the epitome of the 80’s econo-crapbox, constructed with cheap plastics and budget minded parts that translated into a reputation of being notoriously unreliable.

I can remember a time when the word Hyundai would make car enthusiasts turn up their noses and spit in disgust at the Korean Automaker that struggled to make a name for themselves in the US.

While my fathers Hyundai Excel ran for over 400,000 miles on the original motor, for the most part this reputation was well deserved.

Fast forward 30 years, and Hyundai has done a marvelous job reinventing themselves, and while the foray into the sport compact market has netted the Korean automaker less than desirable results in previous years, they seem to have hit a homer with the Hyundai Genesis.

While the luxury sedan has been well received by the automotive press, the coupe (shown here) is powered by the G4KC, a 4 cylinder turbocharged aluminum motor named the Theta.

What can I say? I’m a sucker for 4 cylinder turbocharged goodness!

With the revolution in rwd sport compacts such as the Genesis and the FR-S, RWD sport compact enthusiasts have never had it better!

I will be following the progress of one of my favorite tuners, Tomei and their Genesis Coupe Turbo to see just how it stacks up against some of the classic 4 cylinder turbocharged titans that have graced the US shores such as the SR20DET, EJ25, and my all time favorite the 4G63.